In the case that China Tourism Group Co., Ltd has requested the declaration of avoidance of the trademark “中旅远洋及图”(Zhong lv yuan yang in Chinese and design) under reg. No. 17641910 under class 29, the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) identified again the group's trademark “中旅及图”(Zhong Lv in Chinese and design) under reg. No.770757 is the trademark well-known by the related public, the trademark “中旅远洋及图”(Zhong lv yuan yang in Chinese and design) has been declared as invalidation based on article 13-3 (well-known trademark article) of the Trademark Law of P.R. China. Why say it again (because it has been identified for many times)

Well-known trademark is a kind of trademark needs to be identified by State Intellectual Property Office or the People’s Court according to cases’ situation, well-known trademarks enjoy higher reputation and well known by the public in China. Protection on well-known trademarks is not only limit on the same or similar goods or service, but also registration and use will be prohibited on unsimilar or non-identical goods. As a result, well-known trademarks have been endowed with extensive exclusive right. Moreover, the company name and website of the enterprise has well-known trademark will be protected legally other than the protection on general trademarks.

In this case, State Intellectual Property Office considered that the trademark “中旅及图”(Zhong Lv in Chinese and design) has high reputation, strong originality, also well-known by the general public, under the background that copy and imitation of trademarks in contention, it was granted protection beyond classes, although it is the well-known trademark of travel service under class 39. Certainly, the trademark “中旅及图”(Zhong Lv in Chinese and design) has been identified as well-known for many times, also, this is an important factor in granting cross-class protection in this case.

Thus, for enterprises, if the trademark has reached the level that well known by the related public, the enterprise is advised to request the identification of well-known trademark in the case, this may contributes to the case trial and subsequent right protection.